Hello, my name’s Andrew, and I’m just trying to live the dream, but life…is not cooperating.

Intro

When I was a kid I read this book called The Caboose Who Got Loose by Bill Pete where a caboose named Katy escapes her boring life on the tracks to go live out in nature…

…and after that literally all I wanted was to buy a cabin in the woods and come up with interesting stories for a living.

Lost

Naturally I went to college as a creative writing major, but after two years of everyone telling me how “unrealistic” it was to try and make it as an author I dropped out.

Which kicked off this ten-year free fall where I went back to school for advertising, got a job as a copywriter, quit, moved back home, started freelancing, became a shoe salesman, and then zig-zagged from coding to design to illustration to life coaching…

At which point I was less like a caboose and more like a smoldering existential train wreck.

Found

In 2019 I finally thought “screw this” and decided to get focused by drawing a comic every day for a whole year, which led to publishing my first book, 365 Comics.

After that my YouTube channel went viral with videos about barefoot running and I was basically living the dream.

But two years later I still find myself stuck at home, struggling to make enough money to move out, and I keep thinking, like…

What’s wrong with me? I have everything I need to be successful, so why can’t I stay motivated?

1. Problem

Don’t get my wrong, I’m extremely grateful to have a place to stay rent-free, but when you live with a parent it’s kind of “their house, their rules.”

Which is exhausting, because half your energy goes into avoiding distractions and defending your boundaries.

For example, I love my Mom, but in a lot of ways we’re complete opposites.

Isolation

So there’s this catch-22 where living at home has helped keep my dream alive, while most people I know have settled down…

…but to coexist with my mom I’m constantly having to hide or tone down parts of who I am, and ever since my car rusted out last year I haven’t been able to go anywhere or do anything, which feels super isolating.

Basically, I have three options:

Alternative

Honestly, the fastest way to move out would be to go back to another 9–5 copywriting job. But first of all, fuck that….

…and secondly, I just love YouTubing, because every day people write in to tell me how my videos helped them switch to barefoot shoes, or buy a Light Phone, or cure their brain fog.

So if Plan A, B, or C aren’t the answer, then it’s like I need something completely different…I need a Plan V.

2. Solution

For the past few years I’ve been obsessed with watching van life videos, but it always seemed too expensive and exhausting.

Until one day when I realized, wait…

Just because you have a van doesn’t mean you need to be traveling all the time. I could just park it in the driveway, like Katy caboose between two trees!

Van Tour

Five minutes later I started madly sketching build ideas, because van life seemed like the answer to ALL my problems.

“Ok, so I’m calling the van ‘Morpheus,’ and I’m sure this layout is, like, completely unrealistic, but let me give you a tour…”

“Here’s my desk in the back with my speakers and e ink monitor. Then I’ve got a projector screen up above to watch movies and cabinets on either side with a slide-out bed underneath.”

“Up front I have a sink, fridge, oven, and stovetop with a hidden bookcase door leading to the cabin, and, of course, storage shelves for my barefoot shoes.”

Van Life

“Basically owning a van is the gateway to the rest of my life, and once I walk through that door, everything is going to change…”

Reality

The only problem was I didn’t want to waste money on a cheap used van that would break down as soon as I bought it…

…but at my current rate it was going to take me like ten years to save up $50,000 for a new Ford Transit, which was equally de-motivating, so I was back to the same catch-22.

Without a van I had to live at home, where I was constantly distracted, which made it hard to be creative, which meant fewer videos, less money, and no van, so I had to live at home, where I was constantly distracted…

“It’s like I’m stranded on this alien planet, and I can’t escape the gravity of all my problems, because the thing I need to escape the gravity is outside of the gravity. So…I don’t know.”

“I just have to find some way to get motivated, or I’m going to be stuck in this room for the rest of my life.”

3. Plan

Feeling claustrophobic I went out into the front yard and decided to climb a tree to get some perspective on my problems.

“Sorry, I don’t have a GoPro or anything, so you guys are gonna have to ride in the backpack.” (*climbs pine tree*)

“Magic! Look at that view!”

Starting

Swaying around in the pine I tried to think like a caboose, or more accurately, like a Ford Transit van.

“Here’s the irony…I’ve been stuck on this project for two months, right? So I literally can’t even get motivated to make a video about getting motivated.”

“But then I was thinking about the Caboose book, and it was like, ok, where am I in this story right now? I’ve realized I’m not happy, I’ve created this goal of van life, I’m chugging up the mountain of distraction…and the one thing still holding me back is my iPad, so I’ve gotta let it go…”

*nearly drops iPad*

Challenges

“The second part is I have to build enough speed to actually jump the tracks, which means saving $5,000 for a downpayment and getting my income up to $2,500/mo, so I can get a loan and buy a van by summer of 2024.”

“The order might change, or whatever, but I feel like that’s a good start. So now we just have to get back to Earth.”

Conclusion

Frankly, posting this video is the most terrifying thing I’ve ever done, because van life is such a huge goal, and if it doesn’t work, like…I’m out of backup plans.

But also a lot of motivation videos on YouTube are about people already living the dream, which can be kind of de-motivating.

Content

So I started a second channel called @foltsy where I’m going to talk about my what I learn along the way and hopefully fill in some of the gaps between dreams and motivation.

Plus, I want to commit to posting one long-form video guide per month for each self-improvement challenge and a barefoot video every week, so I can get to #1 on YouTube.

Basically, my goal is to buy a van by June of next year, and I’m going to be posting updates at andrewfolts.com/van-plan.

Support

If you want to pitch in you can donate with the Thanks button, but you can also support the channel for free by shopping with my referral links, and the easiest way to help out is just to do the old like, comment, share, and subscribe.

Thank you so much to all you barefoot and crea…

I was going to end the article there, but it was like, oh god, how many times have I watched a motivational video and then instead of getting motivated the very next thing I did was just watch another motivational video?

So I wanted to leave you with the most important thing I learned over the past three months, which is THIS.

Not The Caboose Who Got Loose specifically, but finding a book or a movie or that resonates with you and asking: “Ok, where am I in this story?”

When you think of your life in terms of a plot, it becomes much easier to figure out why you’re stuck and what you need to do next.

Which is pretty cool, right?

So, yea, what’s your story? Let me know…

…and thanks for reading. Catch ya next time. Peace!